Spring at Yumen Pass, Beyond Wind and Snow

The brightest jewel of the grasslands is Lan Shi.

Her father, the khan, personally taught her horsemanship, archery, and the art of war, as well as the Five Arts and Seven Skills of the Central Plains.

So accomplished, she could hardly help wanting to seize the world in her grasp, starting with the khan's throne.

Until the day she captured a prisoner.

The wind swept through the snow. The man had fallen in the wilderness, clearly a prisoner and looking wretched, yet his brows and eyes concealed a defiance that could not be bent.

Lan Shi rarely felt a pang of kindness. She wanted to tame the cold-faced youth into a falcon that would bow its head and obey her.

As she wished, Hei Yuan was handsome, and he was well-behaved enough when riding at her side. There was just one problem: not even a word could be pried from that tight-lipped man.

Then, without warning, the falcon bared its fangs before her, and smoke from war spread across the grasslands.

As if things weren't bad enough, her father died, and Lan Shi became a thorn in the side of every tribe.

And with her older brother wielding an iron fist and intent on taking the throne, how could he possibly tolerate a woman competing with him?

Everyone watched coldly from the sidelines, waiting to profit from the turmoil.

In the end, Lan Shi did not ascend to the peak of power.

But Hei Yuan unexpectedly came after her again, determined to help her rise to the top.